Saturday, July 28, 2012

Migrants and Mochas

A windy and somewhat cooler day made for some good birding today in the Rondeau area.  It seemed more fall-like with the north wind and birds were flocking up.
Starting on south point trail, the first bird of note was an early fall migrant Swainson's Thrush.  Yellow Warblers were in bunches with other birds mixed in.


It was a perfect day to walk out south beach.  Habitat is excellent out there for shorebirds or marshbirds.  Along the way I came across 3 Northern Waterthrushes as they nervously chipped away.


In the marsh were 6 Great Egrets lazily searching for something to eat.
Three Great Egrets

The only shorebirds were a couple of Sanderling and many Spotted Sandpipers.
Practically nothing was flying on the lake this morning.
On the way back the only notable migrant was a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

I briefly stopped at spicebush trail and heard an Acadian Flycatcher.  One wonders if they nested a second time.  I saw the original nest, but no bird nearby.
Red-spotted Purple on Buttonbush

Blenheim Lagoons had a good number of shorebirds including 9 Stilt Sandpipers, 9 Solitary Sandpipers, 3 Short-billed Dowitchers and a Semipalmated Plover among the common species.


Huge numbers of swallows were around there today.
By the way, I stopped at Ridgetown Lagoon first thing this morning and it was a bust.  Due the the heavy rains the past week or so, no mud was available for shorebirds.

After lunch, I went down to McGeachy Pond.  A number of butterflies were along the dike including a Fiery Skipper.

Common Ringlet--not so common at Erieau!





The R/R track trail was rather quiet, but a Yellow-billed Cuckoo was making its presence known.







It was mid afternoon by the time I got back home so decided to do a quick look at some creeks north of town.  I checked McCallum Line bridge and upon arrival a Mocha Emerald was flying around, but soon disappeared.  Nothing else, and in fact I saw very few dragonflies in my travels.
(borrowed photo)

I stopped at Moore WMA and it was rather dead, but up the road at the old oxbow I caught sight of a male Mocha Emerald patrolling.  Those green eyes really stand out!  I have never seen these things perched, so not a photograph to be had by me!
Lots of butterflies were along the roads, mainly Painted Lady and Question Mark.  In fact, there have been huge numbers of Common Painted-Lady recently.
Hummingbird Clearwing



2 comments:

  1. Blake, I've noticed many Painted Lady butterflies myself lately. Do Northern Waterthrush breed at Rondeau? I recall seeing one very late in May on Tulip Tree trail.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dwayne,
    Northern Waterthrush has nested at Rondeau. Not recently though I think. I did find a juvenile or two many years ago while surveying for the Breeding Bird Atlas.
    Today's birds would be fall migrants.

    ReplyDelete